Catheters have been in use for medical procedures for many years to examine, diagnose, and treat patients. The movement of a catheter through the vasculature of a patient to probe deeply for a considerable depth or through branching vessels requires that the tip of the catheter be steerable (e.g., bendable or deflectable to travel at an angle when a secondary branch of the vasculature is reached).
One presently known form of a catheter having a steerable tip at the distal end comprises a plurality of control wires running from the steerable tip to the proximal end at which steering means are provided for operating the control wires to bend the steerable tip.